Royal Mail has lost postal votes for a ward with polling day less than a week away.

A by-election for Three Rivers District Council’ Rickmansworth Town ward will take place on July 4, the same date as the general election, after the resignation of former district councillor David Raw.

Many residents who will not be able to make it down to a polling station on the day have already sent in their votes by post but, today (June 28), the district council has confirmed that they are now having to be reprinted for the council by-election.

A Three Rivers District Council Spokesperson said: “Due to Royal Mail losing postal votes for the Rickmansworth Town ward by-election, the council’s canvassers will be hand-delivering the re-printed postal votes over the weekend.

“Postal votes for the General Election are unaffected.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We have a specialist elections team that plans every aspect of the elections delivery programmes and works closely with local authorities to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

“The vast majority of postal votes in Rickmansworth have been delivered without any issues, but some postal votes in Rickmansworth Town ward have not arrived with recipients.

"We are continuing to investigate and are working with the council on this."

Former Conservative councillor David Raw was elected in the ward in May 2023 with a 116-vote majority.